Welcome to Close Call Sports. CCS objectively tracks and analyzes close and controversial calls in sport, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game. Developed from The Left Field Corner: MLB Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (UEFL), whose purpose is to objectively track and analyze umpire ejections, video instant replay reviews and their corresponding calls, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Ejection 010: Angel Campos (1)

HP Umpire Angel Campos ejected Orioles Manager Buck Showalter for arguing a strike call in the top of the 6th inning of the Orioles-Angels game. With one out and one on, Orioles batter Nick Markakis took a 0-0 fastball from Angels pitcher Dan Haren for a called first strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located belt high and outside (px value of -1.118), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Angels were leading 1-0. The Orioles ultimately won the contest, 3-2, in 10 innings.

It looks like the classic "lefty strike" to me. I don't like it, but I don't know how to eliminate it, since most umpires are very prone to expanding the zone a little further outside for lefties (perhaps because of the usual setup over the catcher's right shoulder combined with the right eye dominance of most umpires). Joe West is one of the few that doesn't seem to call the lefty zone much different from the righty zone--one of the reasons he's rightly regarded as such a great ball and strike caller. That was definitely not a foot outside when it crossed by the plate like the announcers claimed, though.

As Anonymous 4:52 PM points out, this is one of those classic "lefty strikes": Most umpires expand the zone outside quite significantly when a left handed batter comes to the plate. The RHH zone, by comparison, is generally expanded a few inches on either side. By the Fastmap standard, this pitch was at the very outer edge of the strike zone. By UEFL standards—which are equivalent to the MLB Rules book's strike zone standard of the 17" home plate + 3" (max. diameter of a baseball) to either side—the pitch was located significantly outside.

As for overall numbers, there were 58 called strikes in this game and 115 called balls, or 173 callable pitches.

Of 58 called strikes:13 were conclusively incorrect (called stikes outside of the strike zone)6 were borderline and therefore considered correct39 were conclusively correct45 / 58 correct called strikes = <90.0% accuracy (recall the UEFL does not post percentages less than 90.0%

Of 115 called balls:4 were conclusively incorrect (called balls located within the strike zone)4 were borderline and therefore considered correct107 were conclusive correct111 / 115 correct called balls = 96.5% accuracy

and Gil is being as generous as humanly possible... Some would argue he missed over 30 pitches... I'm sorry But i can see dirt on the inside cornen on a fastball that is within the margin of error and MLB guys should be good enough to do the same... All pitches are not the same but Campos is/was/ brutal...And his consistancy of call is horrible... One thing I like about a guy like say Teddy Barrett is he can seperate pitches that for the purposes of the UEFL would be considered incorrect but he is VERY consistant... (i do remember last year's playoff game).... As for Campos that strike Zone is disgusting

If Campos and Vic are the next two with all the talented guys like Porter, Lance Barrett Adam Hamari, and others on the Horizon somebody much more deserving is going to be left out!! Let's hope they are giving Campos this many chances that we get a difinitive view of him... But for my tastes now he just isn't a MLB umpire.

It seems to me that maybe this is what Showalter should have done back in late 2010, when Markakis got run by Jeff Nelson. You can see the video here: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=11188827&c_id=mlb

Clearly, Showalter was protecting his player, and he didn't really care that it meant he would be ejected. I don't have a problem with that.

No different than a number 2 pitch called a strike by Runge during the no hitter. Since this was a number 1 pitch strike, it did not cause a strikeout.And to be fair to the kid, go check one of the supposedly best pitchers in baseball Roy Halladay and check the strikes he got the day before and the one Street got in that game.

It looks like 4 of the pitches were strike 3's, 2 on Baltimore and 2 on Anaheim for Campos.

I think that guys like Campos and Mike Estabrook are running out of time. D.J. Reyburn's ejection of Joey Votto for seemingly no reason back in 2010 may have hurt his chances as well. Like Campos, Vic Carapazza had five EJ's last year, a rather high total for a AAA ump. Of course, Todd Tichenor had seven in 2009, and he got a full-time job. I think that Manny Gonzalez and Alan Porter are the two best ump prospects.

For Markakis, his first strikeout in this game was on another incorrect strike call, so for him, it's a bad situation where he's being put at a severe disadvantage. Something had to give. Luckily for Nick, it was Buck Showalter standing up for his player.

Regarding Triple A Umpires, I actually think Estabrook is in a Tichenor league where his career started shaky (The baiting of Ned Yost and Jason Kendall in 2010)but he has really improved since then. Sure he had 6 ejections last year but remember 4 of them were for the Ortiz-Gregg fight in Boston. He seems to be decently accurate on his strike zone and always works lots of games.

I also really like Mike Muchlinski and thought he was terrific last year. But we have not seen him once this season. I am really hoping he didn't get fired. He had been around since 2007 and that kind of scares me as umpires have been fired with a lot less expericence.

It seems like the MLB is really high on Porter,Carapazza and Blaser. I think Porter is the strongest of the three, I think Blaser is doing a good job as well. But to be honest, I was not very impressed with Carapzza. Very quick hook and very inconsistent strike zone, I'm talking Campos bad. But clearly MLb guys see something in him. I think ultimately Estabrook and Porter are the next two hired.

@ Dan: I think Campos warned Showalter that he would be ejected and Showalter replied that he didn't care. Personally, I think that Campos should have waited for Showalter to actually say something before warning him.

See the problem there is that arguing balls and strikes is an automatic ejection and Showalter is exiting the dugout on a first-pitch strike call, it's not even strike three or any deciding pitch: It's strike one and the manager is exiting the dugout.

I was watching this game live with the Baltimore feed and they were mentioning that Campos' strike zone was not in synch with the Orioles hitters; as soon as Markakis took strike one and did his double-take, the broadcasters mentioned that Showalter was exiting the dugout. Showalter was halfway to home plate before Campos actually tossed him. To me, that looks like a lenient hook.

@Jay: I suppose you are right about that, but if Campos is going to call strikes on pitches in the opposite batters box, he will have a lot of ejections. Then again, I guess that's how he got to have -10 points last year.

And if Carapazza makes it everyone will say it is because Richie is his father-in-law. Probably the same thing they said when Jerry Crawford made it, since his father was a NLU or Montague because his father signed Willie Mays. In other words, for many many people, anyone related to someone never makes it on merit, they only make it because of their lineage.